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1. “2009 Diversity, Leadership and Public Policy Forum”
September 4, 2009 – 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., Clark Kerr Campus
Featured panel experts:
* Martha Chavez, Director of Public Policy and International
Affairs Program at UCB and Assistant
Dean for Academic Affairs at the
* Joseph
2. Homecoming weekend:
“The California Budget Crisis”
October 3 | 12-1:30 p.m. | Valley Life Sciences' Chan Shun
Auditorium, Room 2050
- Senator Carol J. Liu,
- Henry E. Brady, Dean and Professor of Public Policy,Co-director
of the Class of 1968 Center on Civility and Democratic Engagement, Goldman School of Public Policy
- John Ellwood, Professor of Public Policy,
Register online at http://www.regonline.com/Checkin.asp?EventId=727051
Event Contact: sheilal@berkeley.edu, 510-642-5032
ALUMNI AND STUDENT NEWSMAKERS
1. “‘It’s a good life but we’re not rolling in luxury’;
French farmers say they need the subsidies to survive, it is the big
multinationals who are cashing in” (Sunday Telegraph (
2. “Capitol Alert: Healthy Families makes cost-saving changes” (Sacramento Bee, August 28, 2009); blog citing GINNY PUDDEFOOT (MPP/MPH 1988); http://www.sacbee.com/static/weblogs/capitolalertlatest/024998.html
3. “Aid agencies warn of crisis amid
4. “Health care debate splits over public option” (Sacramento Bee, Aug. 28, 2009); analysis citing MARIAN MULKEY (MPP/MPH 1989); http://www.sacbee.com/ourregion/story/2144802.html
5. “Plug-in Fisker Karma car is
stylishly environmental” (
6. “Survey: San Fran universal health care praised” (Associated Press, Aug. 26, 2009); newswire citing TANGERINE BRIGHAM (MPP 1990); http://www.sacbee.com/308/story/2139519.html
7. “Estimate for 10-Year Deficit Raised to $9 Trillion” (New York Times, August 26, 2009); story citing STAN COLLENDER (MPP 1976); http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/26/business/economy/26deficit.html?scp=4&sq=%22stan%20collender%22&st=cse
8. “Untangling the Politics of Health Care Reform” (Targeted
News Service, August 25, 2009); interview with ERIC PATASHNIK (MPP 1989); http://www.virginia.edu/uvatoday/newsRelease.php?id=9522
9. “Federal deficits: $9 trillion and counting” (CNNMoney.com, August 24, 2009); story citing SEAN WEST (MPP 2006); http://money.cnn.com/2009/08/24/news/economy/us_deficit_projection/index.htm
10. “Meltdown 101: Huge budget deficits expected” (Associated Press Online, August 24, 2009); interview with STAN COLLENDER (MPP 1976); http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/08/24/us/AP-US-Meltdown-101-Growing-Deficits.html?scp=2&sq=%22stan%20collender%22&st=cse
11. “Utilities, groups at odds over sources for renewable energy” (Sacramento Bee, Aug. 24, 2009); story citing LAURA WISLAND (MPP 2008); http://www.sacbee.com/business/story/2133283.html
12. “Romer: Obama Stim Helped Slow GDP Slide—Slowed GDP Decline from -6% to -1%” (The Main Wire, Market News International, August 24, 2009); story citing MICKEY LEVY (MPP 1974).
13. “Bank of America Chief Economist Mickey Levy is Interviewed on Fox Business Network’s ‘Money For Breakfast’” (Copyright 2009 CQ Transcriptions, LLC, All Rights Reserved, Financial Markets Regulatory Wire, August 21, 2009); interview with MICKEY LEVY (MPP 1974).
14. “AP source: White House Projects Lower Deficit” (Associated Press Worldstream, August 20, 2009); newswire citing STAN COLLENDER (MPP 1976); http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/08/20/us/politics/AP-US-Obama-Budget.html?scp=3&sq=%22stan%20collender%22&st=cse
15. “AM Alert: Considering cuts” (Capitol Alert, Sacramento Bee, August 20, 2009); blog citing GINNY PUDDEFOOT (MPP/MPH 1988); http://view.exacttarget.com/?j=fe8d1078776606757d&m=fefc1172766306&ls=fdf71670736c057471167677&l=feca16737661057a&s=fe2e157277640d74741677&jb=ffcf14&ju=fe5a1778716702747510
16. “Failure predicted for plan to sell
17. “Front: Sorry Michelle, hard luck Hillary, Angela Merkel still tops women’s power league: German chancellor leaves US big hitters in her wake in magazine’s list, while the Queen finds herself climbing from 58th to 42nd” (The Guardian (London), August 20, 2009); story citing ANN VENEMAN (MPP 1971).
18. “CITY INSIDER: It’s time to talk about pot growth” (San Francisco Chronicle, August 19, 2009); story citing CARMEN CHU (MPP 2003); http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/08/19/BABA19A8HA.DTL&type=newsbayarea#ixzz0OeFZSeUU
19. “EU incentives encourage firm to leave. Eastern Sugar is
receiving nearly 150 million euros to close five
facilities” (The
20. “Broadband Is Critical Infrastructure for Rural America” (Targeted News Service, August 19, 2009); newswire citing DEREK TURNER (MPP 2006).
21. “Health co-ops hit center stage with few details” (San Francisco Chronicle, August 18, 2009); story citing MARIAN MULKEY (MPP/MPH 1989); http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/08/18/MNU8199QMJ.DTL&type=politics&tsp=1
22. “
23. “Immigrant detention deaths increase pressure for reform” (Christian Science Monitor, August 18, 2009); story citing KAREN TUMLIN (MPP 2003/JD 2004); http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0819/p02s13-usgn.html
24. “The Situation Room” (CNN, August 17, 2009); interview with STEPHANIE TANG (MPP 2004).
25. “Protesters want UC Berkeley law professor fired” (Oakland Tribune, August 17, 2009); story citing STEPHANIE TANG (MPP 2004); http://www.insidebayarea.com/ci_13147497?source=most_viewed
26. “Consumer Prices Held Steady in July, Allaying Fears about Inflation for Now” (The New York Times, August 15, 2009); story citing MICKEY LEVY (MPP 1974).
27. “Aid panel attacks proposal to have colleges dole out Cal Grants” (Sacramento Bee, Aug. 15, 2009); story citing MIKE GENEST (MPP 1980); http://www.sacbee.com/topstories/story/2111434.html
28. “State’s ‘free fall’ may be over, but growth could be
slow” (The Bulletin (
29. “Healthy Families gets new funding but still will drop some kids” (Sacramento Bee, Aug. 14, 2009); story citing GINNY PUDDEFOOT (MPP/MPH 1988); http://www.sacbee.com/capitolandcalifornia/story/2108584.html
30. “Deliver this message” (Fremont Argus, August 13, 2009); Letter to the editor by LINDA SHEEHAN (MPP/JD 1990); http://www.insidebayarea.com/search/ci_13045820?IADID=Search-www.insidebayarea.com-www.insidebayarea.com
31. “RTA about more than commuter rail” (Wisconsin State Journal, August 13, 2009); Letter to Editor by SUSAN DE VOS (MPP 1977).
32. “Don’t forget us, underinsured say” (Sacramento Bee, August 10, 2009); story citing MARIAN MULKEY (MPP/MPH 1989; http://www.sacbee.com/topstories/story/2095896.html
33. “Early childhood mental health program offered - Providers needed to work with young kids” (Davis Enterprise, August 7, 2009); story citing JACKIE HAUSMAN (MPP 1993).
34. “UC Davis, CSUS boost graduation rates” (Sacramento Bee, August 7, 2009); story citing NINA ROBINSON (MPP 1989); http://www.sacbee.com/topstories/story/2090147.html
35. “Obama aims to overhaul immigration jail system. The reforms would send detainees without criminal records to less-restrictive sites that would be under more federal oversight” (Los Angeles Times, August 7, 2009); story citing KAREN TUMLIN (MPP 2003/JD 2004); http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-immig-detain7-2009aug07,0,6005358.story
36. “Sharing styles, techniques, artistic adventures” (Oakland Tribune, August 6, 2009); story citing PATRICK HAYASHI (MPP 1977/PhD 1993); http://www.insidebayarea.com/search/ci_12998585?IADID=Search-www.insidebayarea.com-www.insidebayarea.com
37. “UNICEF pledges seven mln USD
to tackle polio in
38. “Maternity Insurance Coverage Buried in Fine Print” (Tell Me More, National Public Radio (NPR), August 3, 2009); interview citing KAREN POLLITZ (MPP 1982); http://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=111492826
39. “For all of his effort, still no house” (The Record (
40. “
41. “New Web site offers easier path for social service users” (Davis Enterprise, August 2, 2009); story citing JACKIE HAUSMAN (MPP 1993).
42. “Health Coverage and Expenses: Impact on Older Women’s Economic Well-Being” by Alina Salganicoff, Juliette Cubanski, Usha Ranji, Tricia Neuman (Journal of Women, Politics & Policy; 2009, Vol. 30 Issue 2/3, p222-247, 26p); article coauthored by JULIETTE CUBANSKI (MPP 1998/MPH 1999); http://www.kff.org/womenshealth/upload/ArticleJournalWomenPoliticsPolicy_30_222-247_2009.pdf
43. “HUD Secretary speaks at The National Alliance to End Homelessness Annual Conference” (Federal News Service, July 30, 2009); speech citing CAROL WILKINS (MPP 1983).
44. “
45. “
46. “Roots are in local activism” (The Record (
47. “Blue Shield of California Expands CalPERS NetValue Service Area” (PR Newswire, July 21, 2009); newswire citing TOM MCCAFFERY (MPP 1988).
48. “Free Press Responds to ‘Sloppy’ Incumbent Broadband Arguments” (Targeted News Service, July 21, 2009); newswire citing DEREK TURNER (MPP 2006).
49. “Political Notebook: Arambula hires analyst” (Fresno Bee, July 18, 2009); story citing TIM GAGE (MPP 1978).
50. “Wal-Mart bets on green appeal; It will rate and label environmental impact of each product it sells” (Los Angeles Times, July 17, 2009); story citing MICHAEL KOBORI (MPP 1995).
51. “Economic and Climate Experts Debunk Misleading Report on Costs of AB 32” (PR Newswire, July 13, 2009); newswire citing CHRIS BUSCH (MPP 1998/PhD ARE).
52. “Planners to tour brooks” (Brattleboro Reformer (VT), July 11, 2009); story citing KARI DOLAN (MPP 1990).
53. “CWS Extends Protection, Services to Refugees in
54. “Conference Call with Representative Barney Frank (D-Ma) and Lawrence Korb, Senior Fellow at The Center for American Progress Action Fund” (Federal News Service, June 23, 2009); Q&A featuring JEFF ABRAMSON (MPP 2003).
FACULTY IN THE NEWS
1. “Keeping genes out of terrorists’ hands. Gene-synthesis industry at odds over how to screen DNA orders” (Nature, August 31, 2009); story citing STEPHEN MAURER; http://www.nature.com/news/2009/090831/full/461022a.html
2. “Factbox: Kennedy’s Death Raises Successor Speculation” (New York Times, August 26, 2009); newswire citing ROBERT REICH; http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2009/08/26/us/politics/politics-us-kennedy-succession.html?scp=7&sq=%22robert%20reich%22&st=cse
3. “Green & Glover: Nick in time” (Washington Times, August 25, 2009); column citing ROBERT REICH; http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/aug/25/green-glover-nick-in-time/print/
4. “Quest: New Nuclear” (KQED Public Radio, August 24, 2009); program features commentary by DAN KAMMEN; Listen to the story
5. “Roundtable: Is the Economy in Recovery?” (This Week with George Stephanopoulos, ABC News, August 23, 2009); features commentary by ROBERT REICH.
6. “Big stakes in Bernanke’s reappointment” (Marketplace [NPR], August 21, 2009); interview with ROBERT REICH; Listen to this interview
7. “At
8. “Health Care: Weighing Options” (Forum, KQED public radio, August 19, 2009); features commentary of RICHARD SCHEFFLER; http://www.kqed.org/epArchive/R908190900
9. “Talk of the Nation: Is the
10. “Fewer workers, bigger paychecks in high tech” (San Francisco Chronicle, August 13, 2009); story citing ROBERT REICH; http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/08/13/BURK197MCC.DTL&type=tech
11. “The public option’s last stand. We’ll have no one to blame but ourselves if healthcare reform doesn’t include a public option” (Salon.com, Aug. 17, 2009); commentary by ROBERT REICH; http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2009/08/17/reich/
12. “
13. “The White House deal with Big Pharma undermines democracy. Obama’s agreement with Big Pharma may help healthcare reform pass, but it may also mean higher drug prices for you” (Salon.com, Aug. 10, 2009); commentary by ROBERT REICH; http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2009/08/10/pharma/index.html?source=rss&aim=/opinion/feature
14. “Huge wage cost to filling gap in sub-Saharan
15. “Live: eSolar Flips the Switch on
16. “Republicans will not defeat healthcare reform. Conservative groups are trying to Astroturf their way to a defeat of healthcare reform” (Salon.com, Aug. 5, 2009); commentary by ROBERT REICH; http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2009/08/05/reich/
17. “Dollars for scholars” (San Francisco Chronicle, August 5, 2009); op-ed by DAVID KIRP; http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/08/05/EDP0193OR4.DTL#ixzz0NKHMRCQu
18.“Report:
19. “Sustainable Futures: All-electric cars: driving costs down” (Environmental Research Web, August 3, 2009); story citing DAN KAMMEN; http://environmentalresearchweb.org/cws/article/futures/40007
20. “Give BB&T Liberty, but Not a Bailout” (New York Times, August 2, 2009); story citing ROBERT REICH; http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/02/business/02bbt.html?pagewanted=2
1. “‘It’s a good life but we’re not
rolling in luxury’; French farmers say they need the subsidies to survive, it
is the big multinationals who are cashing in” (Sunday Telegraph (
By Henry Samuel in Auvernaux
… Anger in Britain over the billions forked out for the CAP has increased since The Sunday Telegraph disclosed last weekend that Britain’s net contribution to the EU will rise by 60 per cent, from pounds 4.1 billion this year to around pounds 6.9 billion in 2011.
The EU was supposed to begin reducing CAP subsidies to farmers over the same period. But the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, has fought a rearguard action to preserve the budget and now EU officials are about to abandon a promised wider review of all EU spending….
It is easy to sympathise with [small farmers like] Mr
Galpin and Mr Lahaye, but far less so with
They were identified for the first time this year when all 27 EU nations were forced to disclose how they distribute farm subsidies.
In
Jack Thurston, whose website farmsubsidy.org first published the list of beneficiaries, said the purpose of aid had been warped. “In the EU treaty and subsequent laws defining the CAP, it’s defined as an income support policy. The question is: why does it work in such a way that the bigger you are, the more income support you get?’’
One possible reform would
be to means test potential beneficiaries, but this idea has been opposed by
Most are afraid to try to change the way CAP money is distributed. “To do so is to take money away from people who have become very used to having it, and have built up a lobby that’s very powerful and effective in defending what they’ve had in the past,’’ said Mr Thurston….
2. “Capitol Alert: Healthy Families makes cost-saving changes” (Sacramento Bee, August 28, 2009); blog citing GINNY PUDDEFOOT (MPP/MPH 1988); http://www.sacbee.com/static/weblogs/capitolalertlatest/024998.html
Tim Waring reviews vegetables with his son Liam, 2, at their
home in
As reported in today’s Bee, legislation aimed at
preventing hundreds of thousands of children from losing health care coverage
provided by the Healthy Families program appears to be on track for approval.
Members of the Managed Risk Medical Insurance Board, which runs the low-cost insurance program for low-income children and teens whose families aren’t poor enough to qualify for MediCal, decided yesterday to put off plans to begin cutting coverage as they continue efforts to raise cash and keep kids on the rolls.
Ginny Puddefoot, MRMIB deputy director for health policy legislation, said program officials found they had sufficient funds to wait one more month before beginning the disenrollment process.
“The board is still hopeful that the efforts of the governor’s office, legislative leaders, health plans and children’s advocates will be successful in identifying alternative funding, therefore allowing the board to make a finding of sufficient funding and avoid disenrollment,” she said.
The board also continued to chip away at a $112 million funding shortfall yesterday, passing several structural changes to the program. Approved changes included slight increases in co-pays and subscriber premiums….
3. “Aid agencies warn of
crisis amid
Fierce battles between Yemeni government forces and Shiite Muslim rebels in the country’s northwest have displaced tens of thousands of people, creating widespread humanitarian concerns, aid agencies said Thursday.
“The ongoing conflict in Saada has forced more than 100,000 people to flee their homes at great risks to their lives and well-being,” said Ann Veneman of the United Nations Children’s Fund. “Children and women represent the majority of the displaced.”
The agency has been working to get refugees out of conflict zones and to provide them with safe drinking water, sanitation and critical supplies. The number of displaced could total as many as 150,000, Veneman said….
4. “Health care debate splits over public option” (Sacramento Bee, Aug. 28, 2009); analysis citing MARIAN MULKEY (MPP/MPH 1989); http://www.sacbee.com/ourregion/story/2144802.html
By Bobby Caina Calvan
More than any other element of the proposed health care overhaul, the concept of a “public option” for insurance coverage has divided Sacramento-area residents packing town halls by the thousands.
Much of the anger and worry vented at forums in recent weeks stems from fears that a government-run insurance provider could be the first step toward a public takeover of the private medical system.
At the same time, many supporters of overhauling health care view the public option as a linchpin – a way to provide coverage to the estimated 46 million uninsured….
What is the public option?
A public insurance option would be part of a sweeping package of changes that could reshape the health insurance industry, particularly for consumers not currently covered by employer-based group insurance.
“There are details that
just aren’t known yet. It tends to mean different things to different people,”
said Marian Mulkey,
a senior program officer for the
Why the controversy?
Opponents call the public plan the first step in a government takeover of the health care system….
The [health insurance] industry expresses skepticism over a government plan, arguing that federal officials could move to undercut private insurers so severely on price that private insurers would eventually go out of business….
“It seems implausible that such sweeping changes would occur,” said Mulkey of the California HealthCare Foundation. “But whether this would be one step down the path” toward a single-payer system, “that seems possible. It could be a step in a lot of different directions.” …
5. “Plug-in Fisker Karma car is stylishly environmental” (
By Chris Woodyard
The stylish Karma, a plug-in gasoline hybrid, doesn’t quite look
like the quintessential eco car. (By Chris Woodyard,
The maker, Fisker Automotive, is trying to carve out a niche in what is fast becoming a crowded field of next-generation electric vehicles: a high-performance eco-car loaded with style.
The company has taken more than 1,400 refundable deposits so far for the Karma, which has a starting price of $87,900 and can top $100,000. The car can be driven for 50 miles on electric power alone before its auxiliary gasoline engine fires up to generate more juice and extend the range to up to 300 miles. The engine never directly drives the wheels.
Depending on the individual owner’s daily driving mix, the company boasts, Karma could easily top 100 miles per gallon….
It may be a great car
with lots of promise, but “they are either flying way under the radar or they
are having problems,” says Sherry Boschert, who
serves on the board of advocacy group Plug In America
and is author of Plug-In Hybrids: The Cars that Will Recharge
Adds Roland Hwang, transportation program director for the Natural Resources Defense Council: The Fisker Karma “looks very, very cool, but the drive train (is) unproven.” …
6. “Survey: San Fran universal health care praised” (Associated Press, Aug. 26, 2009); newswire citing TANGERINE BRIGHAM (MPP 1990); http://www.sacbee.com/308/story/2139519.html
By Marcus Wohlsen - Associated Press Writer
Of the nearly 1,100 users surveyed, 63 percent said they were “very satisfied” with the program, known as Healthy San Francisco, according to the survey conducted by the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation. Another 31 percent said they were “somewhat satisfied.”
More than 45,000 residents are enrolled in the landmark plan, created in 2006 to provide health care for residents who lack private insurance but are not eligible for other public programs.
In the survey, 92 percent of enrollees said they signed up for the program because they could not afford medical care or health insurance. Seventy-three percent of participants are below the federal poverty line….
But not everyone is pleased. Many business owners have reacted with outrage to fees they are required to pay to help fund the program. Businesses with at least 20 workers that do not provide health care must give part of each employee’s wages to the city as a fee to help pay for the $200 million program….
City officials argue that previously, uninsured employees who got sick would almost always end up in the public clinic system.
“We all have a shared
responsibility for insurance that people have access to care. That includes employers, that includes the participants and the public
sector,” said Tangerine Brigham,
director of Healthy
7. “Estimate for 10-Year Deficit Raised to $9 Trillion” (New York Times, August 26, 2009); story citing STAN COLLENDER (MPP 1976); http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/26/business/economy/26deficit.html?scp=4&sq=%22stan%20collender%22&st=cse
By Jackie Calmes
The nation’s fiscal outlook is even bleaker than the government forecast earlier this year because the recession turned out to be deeper than widely expected, the budget offices of the White House and Congress agreed in separate updates on Tuesday.
The Obama administration’s Office of Management and Budgetraised its 10-year tally of deficits expected through 2019 to $9.05 trillion, nearly $2 trillion more than it projected in February. That would represent 5.1 percent of the economy’s estimated gross domestic product for the decade, a higher level than is generally considered healthy….
The [Congressional Budget Office] did analyze the president’s budget in June and concluded his proposed tax cuts and spending would push deficits through 2019 above $9 trillion. While the administration now agrees with that figure, technical data in the new C.B.O. report suggests that if it were to review the Obama budget now, it would project deficits through 2019 above $10 trillion, analysts speculated….
When Mr. Obama took office, his budget office projected it had inherited a deficit for 2009 of $1.3 trillion; the C.B.O. estimated $1.2 trillion.
Since then, the administration and Democratic-controlled Congress have enacted a $787 billion stimulus package, though less than half of that will be disbursed this fiscal year, as well as supplemental spending for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and bailouts for two automakers….
“It’s fairly clear that responsibility for these numbers doesn’t lie with Barack Obama but with the policies that were in place before him,” said Stan Collender, a longtime budget analyst at the consulting firm Qorvis Communications. He said either Mr. Bush or Senator John McCain, Mr. Obama’s Republican rival in 2008, would have increased the deficit comparably this year with more war and stimulus spending.
But, he added, “regardless of who’s to blame, it’s undeniably Barack Obama’s problem now.” ….
8. “Untangling the
Politics of Health Care Reform” (Targeted News Service, August 25, 2009);
interview with ERIC PATASHNIK (MPP 1989);
http://www.virginia.edu/uvatoday/newsRelease.php?id=9522
Eric Patashik (Photo: Dan Addison)
In an attempt to
untangle some of this, UVA Today turned to Eric
Patashnik, an expert on the politics of health
care and a
Q. What are the most
important aspects of health care reform?
PATASHNIK: There are two main health care problems: About 15
percent of Americans lack health insurance, and health care costs are rising
rapidly.
These problems compound
one another. As medical care becomes more expensive, obtaining health insurance
becomes less affordable for American families. The dilemma is that covering
everybody will increase costs for taxpayers and people who already have
coverage. Many people are unwilling to support health care reform if it means
they will have to pay higher taxes or insurance premiums.
Q. Debunk one or two of
the worst health care reform myths.
PATASHNIK: Both conservatives and liberals fall prey to their own
myths and misunderstandings. Conservatives say we have a private health care
system. In fact, we have a mixed private/ public system. Health care delivery
is largely private, but government pays for a huge share of medical care
through Medicare and Medicaid and through tax preferences for employer-based
insurance plans.
Liberals think that
Americans overwhelmingly despise the current health care system. Actually, most
Americans are satisfied with the quality of their personal medical care. While
about three-quarters of Americans will agree, when asked, that the health care
system is a mess and needs major reform, more than eight in 10 say they are
satisfied with their current medical arrangements. This tension between
collective unhappiness and individual satisfaction is at the core of the health
reform debate….
There is considerable
social science evidence that voters exhibit a negativity bias, meaning they
focus more on losses than on gains of equal size. It should not be a surprise
that senior citizens (who fear cuts to their Medicare benefits) have been more
vocal than have the people who would benefit from expanded insurance coverage.
Q. Is it politically
feasible to take any measures that will "bend down the cost curve"
significantly? How?
PATASHNIK: …The United States spends a lot of money on treatments
of unproven or dubious efficacy. But we haven't had enough experience with
comparative effectiveness research to know whether better information can
reduce waste and tame the growth of medical spending. And the politics of
evidence-based medicine is just explosive. Past governmental efforts to improve
the medical evidence base have generated opposition from providers and patient
advocacy groups.
This is a topic I'm
currently researching with my Yale colleague Alan Gerber, with support from the
Robert Wood Johnson and Smith Richardson foundations….
9. “Federal deficits: $9 trillion and counting” (CNNMoney.com, August 24, 2009); story citing SEAN WEST (MPP 2006); http://money.cnn.com/2009/08/24/news/economy/us_deficit_projection/index.htm
By Jeanne Sahadi, CNNMoney.com senior writer
In just over a month, the federal government’s fiscal year will draw to a close, leaving in its wake one of the biggest annual deficits in U.S. history—and a forecast of more record debt to come….
Last week, White House officials said their new 10-year deficit forecast will be in the neighborhood of $9 trillion, in part because Uncle Sam is pulling down less tax revenue than expected. That would bring it more in line with the CBO’s previous forecast.
Analysts say the best-case scenario on Tuesday would be if the CBO’s updated deficit forecast stays very much in line with its earlier $9 trillion estimate.
That’s because foreign
investors who buy
“If [the CBO] numbers
come in higher, that would be cause for concern,” said Sean West,
The concern, of course,
is that foreign governments and other foreign investors could demand higher
interest rates or stop buying as much
It may make political sense to declare that the majority of Americans will not see their taxes go up, as Obama has done repeatedly, West said. But the administration eventually will have to come up with a sufficient exit strategy from the ballooning levels of federal debt, he noted….
10. “Meltdown 101: Huge budget deficits expected” (Associated Press Online, August 24, 2009); interview with STAN COLLENDER (MPP 1976); http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/08/24/us/AP-US-Meltdown-101-Growing-Deficits.html?scp=2&sq=%22stan%20collender%22&st=cse
By CHRISTOPHER S. RUGABER, AP Economics Writer
WASHINGTON -- … The Obama administration is expected to boost its estimate of the federal deficit over the next decade by $2 trillion, a move likely to trigger political wrangling over who’s to blame and how harmful all the red ink will be.
The White House’s Office of Management and Budget is expected to forecast $9 trillion in deficits over the next 10 years, up from a $7 trillion estimate earlier this year…. The increase is largely due to lower-than-expected tax revenues as a result of the recession.
Meanwhile, the Congressional Budget Office will issue its own deficit forecasts Tuesday. The CBO estimated in March that the deficit for 2010-19 would total $9.1 trillion….
Q: Does that mean the CBO is more reliable?
A: In general, the CBO is seen as the more independent of the two agencies, said Gary Burtless, an economist and budget expert at the Brookings Institution.
While both answer to politicians the OMB director is appointed by the president, the CBO director by the leaders of whichever party controls Congress “people tend to think (the CBO) doesn’t bend to the political winds of (its) masters” as much as the OMB, he said.
Still, both can be “wildly inaccurate” because 10-year forecasts are “at best guesswork,” said Stan Collender, a partner at Qorvis Communications and former congressional budget official.
Collender notes that there will be five congressional elections over the next 10 years and any number of foreign and domestic challenges that will make the actual deficit figures very different from the estimates.
Q: Still $9 trillion! Isn’t this going to harm the economy?
A: Most economists are concerned about the government’s budget gap, but many consider it a longer-term problem to be addressed in the next couple of years. Getting the economy to grow again is a more pressing issue, they say, and increasing taxes or cutting spending could interfere with that goal.
Taking steps to reduce the deficit now “makes no sense,” Collender said. “The right time to do it is when you have unambiguous evidence that the economy is recovering and the recovery will be strong.” …
Q: How did it get this large?
A: Like an overextended shopper, the government is spending more while receiving less revenue. According to the CBO, government spending is up 21 percent in the first 10 months of the budget year that ends Oct. 1, compared to the same period last year, while revenue is down 17 percent….
Much of the additional spending is from the $700 billion bank bailout enacted last October and the Obama administration’s $787 billion stimulus package.
The temporary nature of
those programs could make the deficit easier to reduce, according to both Collender and Burtless. They note the stimulus package will end in 2010,
and other spending should drop once the economy improves….
11. “Utilities, groups at odds over sources for renewable energy” (Sacramento Bee, Aug. 24, 2009); story citing LAURA WISLAND (MPP 2008); http://www.sacbee.com/business/story/2133283.html
By Jim Downing
Now, they are battling environmental and labor groups over where it’s going to come from.
Utilities say they can’t
meet the 2020 goal unless the state allows them relatively free access to
renewable power generated far beyond the state’s borders, in places like
Labor and environmental
groups accept the need for some of the power to come from out of state, but
they’re pushing for legislation that encourages production capacity to be built
in
Pacific Gas and Electric
Co.’s interest in some day buying huge amounts of hydroelectric power generated
on rivers in
“What would that do to
the solar and wind industry in
12. “Romer: Obama Stim Helped Slow GDP Slide—Slowed GDP Decline from -6% to -1%” (The Main Wire, Market News International, August 24, 2009); story citing MICKEY LEVY (MPP 1974).
By Steven K. Beckner
JACKSON HOLE
Council of Economic Advisors Chairman Christina Romer contended that the $787 billion fiscal stimulus helped slow the slide in GDP growth from minus 6% in the first quarter to minus 1% in the second quarter. She said two to three points of that improvement are attributable to the plan….
Other participants questioned whether the stimulus is having the “multiplier” effects on GDP that Romer claims….
Bank of America chief economist Mickey Levy, citing the administration’s own budget figures, said that “even when we get back to full employment the deficits are still 4%-5% of GDP.” He said that will create expectations of higher tax burdens which will discourage spending….
13. “Bank of America Chief Economist Mickey Levy is Interviewed on Fox Business Network’s ‘Money For Breakfast’” (Copyright 2009 CQ Transcriptions, LLC, All Rights Reserved, Financial Markets Regulatory Wire, August 21, 2009); interview with MICKEY LEVY (MPP 1974).
PETER BARNES, Fox
Business Sr. Washington Correspondent: … We have Mickey Levy. He is the chief economist with Bank of
MICKEY LEVY, CHIEF ECONOMIST, BANK OF
That is, now that the Fed’s involved in credit policy, in fiscal policy, how does it maintain and regain its independence with an overbearing Congress? ….
BARNES: What do you think needs to come out of this conference that can be helpful to policymakers going forward? …
LEVY: Well, certainly some of the papers being presented will address, you know, forward-looking strategies. There will be a lot of discussion... about what went wrong, how it went wrong, leading indicators of financial crisis.
This morning, Chairman Bernanke is going to give the keynote address. And while he will talk about an exit policy … I don’t think he’s going to go beyond talking about themes.
So, in the next couple days, what I would like to see come out of it, this conference, is a more detailed analysis of the Fed’s exit policy….
BARNES: In our last minute, what is your outlook for the economy? We’re hearing, you know, V-shaped recovery. We’re hearing potentially a W. Where do you stand?
LEVY: Well, the consensus forecast is … for a very weak, gradual recovery. And I think it might be stronger than that, but I think it’s going to be a bumpy road because the government’s involved, and a lot of the government’s stimulus packages are temporary, and they’ll generate bumpiness in the road to recovery. But I think we will recover, but then the long-run costs of this and the government’s involvement, and the huge amount of debt... the long-run costs will be enormous, unfortunately.
14. “AP source: White House Projects Lower Deficit” (Associated Press Worldstream, August 20, 2009); newswire citing STAN COLLENDER (MPP 1976); http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/08/20/us/politics/AP-US-Obama-Budget.html?scp=3&sq=%22stan%20collender%22&st=cse
By Philip Elliott and Jim Kuhnhenn, Associated Press Writers
The decrease in the estimate comes in part because the administration has provided less aid than expected to Wall Street, but the revised figure still is three times last year’s deficit, a White House official said late Wednesday….
The new deficit numbers are record shattering, but would give the Obama administration the opportunity to say that its policies have avoided a more extreme financial crisis and eliminated the need for further bank infusions.
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office also is expected to release its mid-session review on Tuesday. It estimated in June that it expected a deficit of $1.825 trillion….
Stan Collender, a former congressional budget
staffer, said the White House’s new deficit numbers can’t be blamed on
Obama. Collender, now with Qorvis
Communications, a Washington consulting firm, noted that when President
George W. Bush left office the deficit estimate for this fiscal year was $1.2
trillion and that didn’t include a tax adjustment and additional spending for
operations in
15. “AM Alert: Considering cuts” (Capitol Alert, Sacramento Bee, August 20, 2009); blog citing GINNY PUDDEFOOT (MPP/MPH 1988); http://view.exacttarget.com/?j=fe8d1078776606757d&m=fefc1172766306&ls=fdf71670736c057471167677&l=feca16737661057a&s=fe2e157277640d74741677&jb=ffcf14&ju=fe5a1778716702747510
Administrators of the Healthy Families program will consider a number of structural changes today in hopes of avoiding cutting coverage for children and teens.
“We have been doing analysis internally and with (audit and assurance advisers) PricewaterhouseCoopers to see which ideas would be feasible and when they could be implemented,” said Ginny Puddefoot, deputy director for health policy legislation at the Managed Risk Medical Insurance Board, which runs the program.
Healthy Families, which provides low-cost health insurance to 900,000 children and teens whose families are too poor to qualify for MediCal, has been coping with how to cut costs without curtailing coverage since the Legislature and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger slashed $178 million of its funding in the budget revision package.
The 12-year-old program, which was already under financial strain, had to freeze new enrollments for the first time earlier this summer. More than 55,000 applicants had been added to a waiting list as of Aug. 11.
Even in light of an $81 million pledge from the First 5 Commission, MRMIB members said last week that they would have to begin disenrolling children Oct. 1 because of a remaining funding shortfall.
Staff members have been considering potential changes to the benefits, premium levels and co-payments to minimize the effect of the planned disenrollments, Puddefoot said….
Some of the proposed changes could require approval from the Legislature. With notices of disenrollment set to go out starting Sept. 1, Puddefoot said administrators are doing all they can to find savings or additional funding in the coming weeks.
“We’re all bumped up against the end of the legislative session in a couple of weeks, so that complicates things,” Puddefoot said. “We’re still hoping to find some way to avoid (disenrollment).” …
16. “Failure predicted
for plan to sell
By Kevin Yamamura
In a state budget
revision full of desperate solutions, the most questionable may be a $1 billion
partial sale of
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger proposed the idea in his revised May budget plan as a way to help bridge a $24 billion deficit. With Republicans opposed to tax hikes and Democrats trying to limit spending cuts, legislators agreed to the $1 billion sale after exhausting politically viable alternatives….
“This isn’t going to
happen any time in the next three to four years because there would be one
court case, if not many,” said Frank Neuhauser, a
The authorizing bill requires that State Fund’s board of directors agree that assets identified by the state are appropriate to sell. Whether that gives the board veto power is already under dispute, a key point since the board opposes any sale….
Under the budget, Director of Finance Mike Genest is responsible for selling State Fund assets….
17. “Front: Sorry Michelle, hard luck Hillary, Angela Merkel still tops women’s power league: German chancellor leaves US big hitters in her wake in magazine’s list, while the Queen finds herself climbing from 58th to 42nd” (The Guardian (London), August 20, 2009); story citing ANN VENEMAN (MPP 1971).
By Angelique Chrisafis,
Just back from holiday,
looking refreshed weeks before she is expected to win the September election as
The German chancellor
has for the fourth year running topped
The Forbes women’s power list has for the past six years seen the US business magazine score a publicity coup by branching out from measuring the still male-dominated world’s top billionaires and chief executives to produce a yardstick of 100 top women in politics, business and philanthropy.
This year, the
The Forbes team said it
had taken cheer at the rising number of women to choose from, but accepted
there was still a fair distance to go. A total of 27 women on the list headed
companies, while 10 either run their countries or are heads of state. Newcomers
include
18. “CITY INSIDER: It’s time to talk about pot growth” (San Francisco Chronicle, August 19, 2009); story citing CARMEN CHU (MPP 2003); http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/08/19/BABA19A8HA.DTL&type=newsbayarea#ixzz0OeFZSeUU
--Marisa Lagos
There’s not much a legislator can do when something is already illegal, so Supervisor Carmen Chu is defaulting to one of our favorite City Hall pastimes: calling a hearing.
Part of the goal will be to figure out whether these grow houses (which often pose safety risks because of overloaded electrical outlets and other corner cutting) are actually increasing in number of if more people are just getting caught. Her office said there have been busts at 28 homes in the past five months, and many of the houses have been filled with hundreds or even thousands of budding plants….
19. “EU incentives
encourage firm to leave. Eastern Sugar is receiving nearly 150 million euros to close five facilities” (The
By Benjamin Cunningham
The Eastern Sugar company used to produce more than 100,000 metric tons of
beet sugar per year in the
The story would end rather unremarkably there, if the company hadn’t received 25 million euros in farm subsidies for its operations in the Czech Republic in 2008—more than three times the amount of any other company in the country—and an additional 35 million euros so far this year.
Add to this more than 20 million euros in subsidies received for closing operations in Slovakia and nearly 64 million euros for ending production in Hungary, and the firm has received nearly 150 million euros in taxpayer money for shutting down its five Central European production plants.
“It’s a bit like an
“They got the quotas for free from the Czech government. They are the only company that tried to sell its quota back to the EU,” said ZdenÄ k Joudal, chairman of the Sugar Beet Growers Association of Bohemia. “It’s wrong, but there is nothing I can do about it.” …
…Experts see the Eastern Sugar case as emblematic of systemic problems.
“It’s a lot like the Wall Street bailout; money from subsidies is going to large companies and wealthy individuals rather than small farmers,” said Thurston, who also runs the Web site Farmsubsidy.org, which collects and publishes subsidy figures. “The bigger you are, the more money you get, and it all seems to happen without public oversight.”
Eastern Sugar’s public money boon doesn’t end with the EU. In 2007, the firm won 27.2 million euros from the Czech government in an arbitration case, after successfully arguing that the Czechs unfairly limited their production quotas….
Eastern Sugar is in
court again suing for an additional 38 million euros,
citing unfair compensation when it gave up some of its production quota to meet
EU requirements during the
All these numbers lead to the question of how Eastern Sugar has to this point avoided public scrutiny.
Thurston says the nearly impenetrable lists of subsidy recipients published by governments make public oversight almost impossible….
20. “Broadband Is Critical Infrastructure for Rural America” (Targeted News Service, August 19, 2009); newswire citing DEREK TURNER (MPP 2006).
Derek Turner, research director at Free Press, issued the following statement:
“The USDA study adds
more weight to the overwhelming evidence that broadband is becoming critical
infrastructure and driving the economy throughout
Read the USDA’s new report, “Broadband Internet’s Value for Rural America”: http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/err78/
Read more about policy
solutions for reforming the Universal Service Fund in the Free Press report “
21. “Health co-ops hit center stage with few details” (San Francisco Chronicle, August 18, 2009); story citing MARIAN MULKEY (MPP/MPH 1989); http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/08/18/MNU8199QMJ.DTL&type=politics&tsp=1
--Victoria Colliver, Chronicle Staff Writer
Supporters of President Obama gather across from opponents outside
the
(08-17) 20:25 PDT -- The spotlight has turned to health care “cooperatives” following hints over the weekend that the Obama administration might be backing away from a government-run option as an essential component of the effort to overhaul the health system.
Health co-ops have emerged as an alternative to the controversial public plan because they aren’t controlled by the government, but could offer a competitive marketplace for affordable coverage. The powerful Senate Finance Committee, which has yet to release its health reform bill, is reportedly considering the option.
Co-ops are nonprofit, member-owned entities that could operate on regional, state or national levels, negotiating rates with providers for the benefit of the members. Beyond that very vague description, little is known about exactly how health co-ops would operate and whether they would satisfy supporters of the public option.
Several lawmakers say a public option is required if health reform is to succeed, but some health care experts contend it’s too early to determine whether a cooperative—which would ostensibly operate under more government regulation than the current marketplace and be offered in place of a public plan—can’t accomplish the same goal.
“It all depends on what rules are put in place about who is eligible, how provider reimbursements and premiums are set and how the ‘thing’—whether a public plan or co-op—is governed,” said Marian Mulkey, senior program officer with the California HealthCare Foundation in Oakland….
22.“
Lockheed Martin
announced today that it was awarded a three-year contract by Pepco Holdings,
Inc., to implement energy efficiency and conservation programs and services for
its Pepco non-residential customers in the
“Pepco has made a commitment to energy efficiency as a tool to help its customers conserve power and reduce their environmental impact,” says Tom Grumbly, vice president, Lockheed Martin Energy & Environmental Services. “We are excited to help Pepco and its customers solve their complex energy challenges through innovative energy efficiency programs and green technology applications.” …
23. “Immigrant detention deaths increase pressure for reform” (Christian Science Monitor, August 18, 2009); story citing KAREN TUMLIN (MPP 2003/JD 2004); http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0819/p02s13-usgn.html
By Michael B. Farrell, Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
The US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency announced the deaths that it apparently discovered during an in-depth review of agency records, which was prompted by a lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).
In total, 104 immigrants have died at federal detention centers since 2003….
While the Obama administration has announced plans to overhaul the 32,000-bed detention system that is spread out over 350 county jails, state prisons, and privately run facilities, it has rejected implementing legally enforceable standards at the centers….
ICE enacted standards
for its detention facilities in 2000 that groups such as the
“What we have seen is that when detainees have urgent medical needs, their pleas for help will go unanswered,” says Karen Tumlin, a staff attorney for NILC. “We are hoping that the reforms that are being put in place by the administration will start to change that.”
24. “The Situation Room” (CNN, August 17, 2009); interview with STEPHANIE TANG (MPP 2004).
... DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT
…: As an attorney for the justice department in the George W. Bush
administration, he wrote memos that justified the use of waterboarding
terrorism suspects and the wiretapping of
STEPHANIE TANG, WORLD CAN’T WAIT: We’re calling for him to be fired
from his position at the
25. “Protesters want UC Berkeley law professor fired” (Oakland Tribune, August 17, 2009); story citing STEPHANIE TANG (MPP 2004); http://www.insidebayarea.com/ci_13147497?source=most_viewed
By Terence Chea Associated Press Writer
World Can’t Wait organizer Stephanie Tang yells at
26. “Consumer Prices Held Steady in July, Allaying Fears about Inflation for Now” (The New York Times, August 15, 2009); story citing MICKEY LEVY (MPP 1974).
By Jack Healy
Consumer prices in the
‘‘It could be a very
large long-run problem,’’ said Mickey
Levy, chief economist at Bank of
27. “Aid panel attacks proposal to have colleges dole out Cal Grants” (Sacramento Bee, Aug. 15, 2009); story citing MIKE GENEST (MPP 1980); http://www.sacbee.com/topstories/story/2111434.html
By Laurel Rosenhall
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger didn’t take a single dollar from the 300,000 needy college students who rely on Cal Grants to make their way through school when he signed the state budget last month.
But he used his line-item veto to cut funding to the agency that administers Cal Grants, and to urge a major change in the way the scholarships are handed out to students. Schwarzenegger wants to move most of the work away from the California Student Aid Commission and have colleges handle it instead….
Schwarzenegger’s veto cut the agency’s $12.6 million budget in half. But the veto message says the Student Aid Commission will get $4.3 million back once the Legislature passes a law that shifts most administration of Cal Grants to the colleges….
The state’s current process for awarding financial aid has redundancies that waste money and confuse students, said Judith Heiman, an analyst in the Legislative Analyst’s Office….
Schwarzenegger’s Department of Finance Director Michael Genest said leaders of the
“They think they can do it for less cost then the Student Aid Commission,” Genest said.
“Since the governor was forced to reduce spending, that seemed like a reasonable way to do it,” he added….
28. “State’s ‘free fall’
may be over, but growth could be slow” (The Bulletin (
By Tim Fought - The Bulletin
Then, the economists may turn to debating how vigorous an economic recovery might be in the state with the nation’s third-worst jobless rate: Opinion varies from “weak” to “modest.”
“The period of free fall
we were in “ that seems to be clearly over now,” said Joe Cortright, of
29. “Healthy Families gets new funding but still will drop some kids” (Sacramento Bee, Aug. 14, 2009); story citing GINNY PUDDEFOOT (MPP/MPH 1988); http://www.sacbee.com/capitolandcalifornia/story/2108584.html
By Torey Van Oot
Children’s health care advocates got both a boost and a blow Thursday as the California First 5 Commission announced it would contribute $81.4 million to the state’s Healthy Families health insurance program.
But members of the Managed Risk Medical Insurance Board, which runs Healthy Families, still had to tell the program’s administrators to begin disenrolling children Oct. 1 to help close a funding shortfall….
The Legislature reduced funding for Healthy Families by $128.6 million in its budget revision last month, and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger used his line-item veto to cut $50 million more….
Even with the First 5 contribution, unless additional funding is obtained, children whose one-year anniversary in the program falls in September will be dropped from coverage starting Oct. 1, said Ginny Puddefoot, the board’s deputy director for health policy legislation.
Puddefoot said the program would give affected families 30 days’ written notice.
“Everyone is working really hard to try to find additional funding so that we would not have to actually move forward with that step,” she said.
Initial estimates projected that more than 600,000 children would be affected by the disenrollments. But Puddefoot said those figures did not account for the First 5 funding, which is expected to prevent about 200,000 children up to age 5 from losing or being denied coverage.
Funding shortages forced the program to freeze new enrollments for the first time in mid-July. More than 55,000 children had been added to a waiting list for new applicants as of Tuesday, Puddefoot said….
30. “Deliver this message” (Fremont Argus, August 13, 2009); Letter to the editor by LINDA SHEEHAN (MPP/JD 1990); http://www.insidebayarea.com/search/ci_13045820?IADID=Search-www.insidebayarea.com-www.insidebayarea.com
“Penny-wise and pound-foolish” came to mind when I heard the Postal Service may close the Mission San Jose post office….
If this popular branch is closed, the other branches, which already experience long lines, will face heavier crowds. This, ironically, will then draw people further away from “snail mail” and deepen the Postal Service’s budget issues….
I urge the community to make its voice heard in support of keeping the branch open. E-mail or call Congressman Pete Stark through www.stark.house.gov, or write Postmaster General Jack Potter through www.usps.com. Let them know that this branch is too valuable to the community to shut down after more than a century and a half of public service.
—Linda Sheehan, Fremont
31. “RTA about more than commuter rail” (Wisconsin State Journal, August 13, 2009); Letter to Editor by SUSAN DE VOS (MPP 1977).
Back in April, a State Journal letter asked for clarity regarding what a regional transit authority was. We reiterate that call for clarity.
Many people mistakenly
believe an RTA in the greater
Madison Area Bus
Advocates believes it’s essential that bus transit be expanded to include
express buses to make transit more time-competitive with cars. Only after our
existing bus system is improved and expanded to include express buses should we
consider rail, and that consideration should be expanded to serve the entire
RTA area, not just
—Susan De Vos, member, Madison Area Bus Advocates
32. “Don’t forget us, underinsured say” (Sacramento Bee, August 10, 2009); story citing MARIAN MULKEY (MPP/MPH 1989; http://www.sacbee.com/topstories/story/2095896.html
By Bobby Caina Calvan
Laura Burwell walks through her vineyard, where
she was bit by a rattlesnake and wound up facing an unexpected $73,000 hospital
bill. (Renee C. Byer/SacBee.com)
Laura Burwell was
weeding her backyard vineyard last summer when she was bit by a rattlesnake.
She rushed to a
Then came the unexpected sting of a $73,000 hospital bill – and shock upon learning her health insurance would cover a mere $3,000….
“I’m probably a typical insurance purchaser,” said Burwell, who had to scramble to find a solution for the steep bill. “I believed what I was told by the person selling it to me.”
While much of the American health care discussion has focused on providing coverage to the country’s 46 million uninsured, there is growing concern about millions more who are underinsured, or whose policies require them to pay thousands of dollars out-of-pocket before coverage kicks in….
Today, choosing a plan
is “a very tall order,” said Marian Mulkey, policy analyst with the
Enticed by pitches for inexpensive coverage, some consumers buy ill-fitting policies, or go into deals with unrealistic expectations. Some don’t ask the right questions or neglect the fine print….
33. “Early childhood mental health program offered - Providers needed to work with young kids” (Davis Enterprise, August 7, 2009); story citing JACKIE HAUSMAN (MPP 1993).
--Special to The
First 5 Yolo and the
The goal is to increase
the capacity of
In this effort, First 5 Yolo is partnering with WestEd to offer a free professional development program for eligible participants through a comprehensive new program for infant/family and early childhood education.
The program offers a series of training sessions during a two-year period to build mental health expertise along the continuum of prevention, preventive intervention and treatment….
To apply, go to http:// www.first5yolo.org or contact Jackie Hausman [children’s health program coordinator for First 5 Yolo] ….
34. “UC Davis, CSUS boost graduation rates” (Sacramento Bee, August 7, 2009); story citing NINA ROBINSON (MPP 1989); http://www.sacbee.com/topstories/story/2090147.html
By Laurel Rosenhall
Good news for students entering UC Davis and
Graduation rates are up
across the
Between 1996 and 2001,
the portion of freshmen graduating within four years from UC Davis went up 10.3
percentage points, while the portion graduating from
Educators at both systems credit the increase in graduation rates to strategies they’ve devised to keep more students on track – and the tougher competition to get into college in the first place.
“Over time, it has become much more difficult to be admitted to our campuses. We are admitting and enrolling increasingly well-prepared, high-achieving, motivated students,” said Nina Robinson, director of student policy at UC’s Office of the President….
35. “Obama aims to overhaul immigration jail system. The reforms would send detainees without criminal records to less-restrictive sites that would be under more federal oversight” (Los Angeles Times, August 7, 2009); story citing KAREN TUMLIN (MPP 2003/JD 2004); http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-immig-detain7-2009aug07,0,6005358.story
By Anna Gorman
Pledging more oversight and accountability, the Obama administration announced plans Thursday to transform the nation’s immigration detention system from one reliant on a scattered network of local jails and private prisons to a centralized one designed specifically for civil detainees.
The reforms are aimed at establishing greater control over a system that houses about 33,000 detainees a day and that has been sharply criticized as having unsafe and inhumane conditions and as lacking the medical care that may have prevented many of the 90 deaths that have occurred since 2003….
[
Immigrant rights advocates welcomed the changes but said there was still no clear policy on how detention facilities would be penalized if problems were found.
“We are encouraged that
the administration is taking a hard look at what has traditionally been a dark
spot in our immigration system,” said Karen
Tumlin, a staff attorney at the Los Angeles-based
Tumlin and others said the detention standards needed to be made legally binding to guarantee immigrants access to counseling, family visits, legal materials and recreation time. Legislation has been introduced aimed at accomplishing this.
Advocates also said that the government should use less punitive and less costly alternatives to detention, such as ankle bracelets or intensive supervision, for certain immigrants….
36. “Sharing styles, techniques, artistic adventures” (Oakland Tribune, August 6, 2009); story citing PATRICK HAYASHI (MPP 1977/PhD 1993); http://www.insidebayarea.com/search/ci_12998585?IADID=Search-www.insidebayarea.com-www.insidebayarea.com
By Janice De Jesus, Correspondent
Painter Pat Hayashi’s creative technique literally went up in smoke — and as it turned out, that was a good thing.
One late evening, a painting he didn’t like bothered him so much that he couldn’t sleep. So he got up and set the artwork on fire. As it flared up, he started hitting the back of the painting with a spatula.
To his delight, Hayashi said he liked the burned image on the back of the paper better than the original print — he had discovered a new medium to be passionate about….
From this process, he’s created ethereal landscapes, soft skies, dark trees, and glimmering lakes. It’s taken a lot of trial-and-error sessions to master his new art form, he said.
“The challenge is to smoke the paper and sometimes to scorch it, but not to set it on fire,” Hayashi said….
Hayashi and fellow artists plan to share their creative process
with the public at a new series called Art Talks, the first of which is Aug. 12
at Knoxx Restaurant in
“It’s a nice blending of community and artistic interests,” Hayashi said. “It’s nice for us to explain the background of what we do.” …
37. “UNICEF pledges
seven mln USD to tackle polio in
Ann Veneman, UNICEF Executive Director, who ended a four-day visit to the country on Monday, was in northern Nigeria’s Sokoto and Kebbi states to dialogue with government officials and religious leaders on child survival strategies.
She described the government’s commitment to saving lives of Nigerian children as sincere, noting that there is still a strong need to educate the families on importance of good nutrition….
According to
She said the UN agency is committed to allocate 1.8 million dollars to support improvement in nutrition programs and five million dollars for strengthening polio eradication initiatives in the endemic states of the country.
The UNICEF director promised to ensure prompt release of the money, which would specifically be used to scale up integrated community-based nutrition stations where families can bring their children for preventative and curative assistance.
Veneman expressed regrets that
lack of essential health services, malnutrition, inadequate access to clean
water and basic sanitation contribute to high rate of child mortality being
experienced in
She expresses confidence that with close cooperation among stakeholders, including governments at all levels, religious leaders and traditional rulers, the country has a bright hope to surmount the challenges of malnutrition.
38. “Maternity Insurance Coverage Buried in Fine Print” (Tell Me More, National Public Radio (NPR), August 3, 2009); interview citing KAREN POLLITZ (MPP 1982); http://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=111492826
MICHEL MARTIN, host: … Now we turn to a personal story about an issue at the center of the debate, health insurance. Freelance journalist Sarah Wildman recently gave birth to a baby girl. She and her partner, both self-employed, were paying for their own health insurance policy which they assumed would cover much of the expense. But once the bills came in the couple were told they owed more than $20,000. How did that happen? …
MARTIN: So there was no way this policy [with a cap of $3000 per pregnancy stated in the fine print] was going to cover the cost, the actual cost of having this baby.
Ms. WILDMAN: There was no way and CareFirst admitted that afterwards….
MARTIN: So tell me what happened when you started writing about this?
Ms. WILDMAN: We called again and again customer service, got nowhere. They wouldn’t pass us on to supervisors. They said, I’m sorry, there’s nothing we can do. When I called the press department and I said, I’m writing about how you sold me a fraudulent policy. You said this covered labor and delivery. It got me no further than in the door. It didn’t cover the admission into the hospital, so how could you call this a maternity policy? And the guy said, well, you know, I’m going to pass you to customer service and I got passed up the food chain to someone at the very top in Baltimore, a wonderful woman who was totally lovely and said to me, you’re right, it’s not a good policy. I’m going to look into it and see if there’s something we can do. And so she looked into it and within a week, after six months of fighting, all of a sudden we got a call saying CareFirst was covering 90 percent of our hospital bill.
MARTIN: … What do you think happened here? Is it the prospect of unflattering publicity that caused them to change the policy or do you think it’s just because you were diligent in fighting it?
Ms. WILDMAN: I think
it’s a combination of the two. I spoke to a lot of policy analysts during the
process of fighting this claim and writing the story. Karen Pollitz is director of the Health Policy Institute
of
MARTIN: But how has this experience affected you?
Ms. WILDMAN: It’s been
trying, for one, but—and I know Americans don’t like to be compared to Europe,
but in
Okay, it’s expensive, but should it also not be comprehensive? That’s what I didn’t realize. It’s not comprehensive. It does not cover what it says it covers. We should have something that allows us to know what we’re buying. Karen Pollitz had a great quote in a Consumer Reports piece about individual market recently when she said, rice is rice and gasoline is gasoline but what is health insurance? And in fact we don’t know….
39. “For all of his
effort, still no house” (The Record (
By Barbara Williams, Staff Writer
WEST MILFORD — For local resident Robert Mazzocchi,
the state’s quest to protect water in the
After six years, countless letters and phone calls to state and local agencies, and nearly $20,000 in fees and engineering costs, he still hasn’t been able to put a shovel in the ground to build the three-bedroom lake house with the gentle sloping yard that he envisions.
State
laws, created to protect vital watershed land … make building in
Many of his applications were sent back multiple times because the paperwork omitted information or Mazzocchi’s plan was not acceptable, state officials said. In a December 2008 letter to State Sen. Robert Gordon, who tried to intervene with DEP on Mazzocchi’s behalf, DEP Commissioner Mark Mauriello said his office has tried to help Mazzocchi through the years….
40. “
By Lee Greenberg
[Dr. Arlene] King, Ontario’s chief medical officer of health, said officials are treating the new link between obesity and H1N1 as “an emerging hypothesis’’ based on data coming out of the province’s intensive-care units….
King did not offer
province-specific data to support the theory, but
A study looked at 10
severely ill flu patients at a
“What this study
suggests is there can be complications associated with this virus infection,
especially in severely obese patients,’’ said Dr. Tim Uyeki, [author of the study and] a
virus expert with the
41. “New Web site offers easier path for social service users” (Davis Enterprise, August 2, 2009); story citing JACKIE HAUSMAN (MPP 1993).
--Special to The
First 5 Yolo has
launched a new Web site, http://www. compasshelps.org, that
connects
“CompassHelps” is a quick and easy way for individuals and families to screen themselves for eligibility among multiple public assistance programs and services in the convenience and privacy of their homes.
“Anyone using the Internet, either at home or at one of the many public locations in the county, can quickly look up available services and pre-screen themselves for eligibility,” said Jackie Hausman, children’s health program coordinator for First 5 Yolo.
“In addition, the Web site is very easy to navigate and will soon save client information in a confidential record in the broader Compass system so people don’t have to re-enter basic information every time they contact an agency for help.”
CompassHelps
includes information about
42. “Health Coverage and Expenses: Impact on Older Women’s Economic Well-Being” by Alina Salganicoff, Juliette Cubanski, Usha Ranji, Tricia Neuman, Journal of Women, Politics & Policy; 2009, Vol. 30 Issue 2/3, p222-247, 26p; article coauthored by JULIETTE CUBANSKI (MPP 1998/MPH 1999); http://www.kff.org/womenshealth/upload/ArticleJournalWomenPoliticsPolicy_30_222-247_2009.pdf
Abstract: … This study uses a nationally representative sample of Medicare beneficiaries aged 65 and older in 2002 to explore gender-based differences in health and long-term care use, spending patterns, and the financial burden of health and long-term care out-of-pocket health expenses. Women’s health care expenses were higher than men’s; older women paid for a greater share of their total spending out of pocket and they faced a greater financial burden by shouldering these out-of-pocket costs with less income at their disposal….
43. “HUD Secretary speaks at The National Alliance to End Homelessness Annual Conference” (Federal News Service, July 30, 2009); speech citing CAROL WILKINS (MPP 1983).
SEC. SHAUN DONOVAN: … This audience has long understood the connection between permanent supportive housing and major savings in our health care system….
Simply put, if we want to tackle health care reform—if we want to lower costs—we must tackle homelessness….
As Carol Wilkins laid out in a series of papers with the Corporation for Supportive Housing a few years ago, Medicaid has often been a challenging resource for permanent supportive housing providers to access.
So, why should we bother? Why should any housing or service provider consider affiliating with Medicaid? Or Medicare for that matter?
Because, quite frankly, it’s our greatest chance to make the biggest difference for the most people—to move the needle on all of homelessness….
44. “
… 6.
7.
REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY CONSIDERATION ITEMS 1. Appropriating - funds in the
amount of $250,000 from the Redevelopment Unallocated Fund Balance; and
authorizing the Executive Director to enter into a ten-year $250,000 Commercial
Rehabilitation Loan with California Automotive Retailing Group to fund physical
improvements for a new Chevrolet car dealership at
45. “
By D.K. Row, The Oregonian
The most severe recession
in generations has turned into a trial of limitations for many people, and has
particularly shaken
“There are plenty of
hand-to-mouth jobs in
If you talk to Joe Cortright,
the local economist who has documented the influx of creatives
into
More accurately, Cortright says the economic quandary concerns a more narrow group: the city’s toiling arts professionals, though many arts professionals are technically creatives.
Even in that regard, Cortright
believes
New businesses,
including arts-related ones, also are still growing here. Even though some have
left town, more arts people stay rather than leave. Above all,
But even before [this
recession],
Economist Cortright, however, defuses
such complaints with levity. “Would things be any different in
Cortright, who’s been one of the city’s most ardent economic champions, says the issue is partly existential: Not everyone is guaranteed a way of life. On a practical level, the increase in arts professionals has raised arts activity but hasn’t necessarily elevated the standard of living. It’s made the search for dollars and attention more competitive.
“We love this city and
its quirkiness,” Cortright
says. “But the local market is not large enough or challenging enough, so you
have to expand. You have to work outside
Cortright, for example, isn’t
sure how to measure
46. “Roots are in local
activism” (The Record (
By Michael Gartland and John Reitmeyer, Staff Writers
State Sen. Loretta Weinberg greeting supporters Saturday afternoon
at Bergen PAC in
State Sen. Loretta
Weinberg’s political career began in the early 1960s as an attempt to have
trees planted on one of
Soon after, she became one of the township’s most vocal advocates for public school desegregation….
Weinberg now could
become the state’s first lieutenant governor. Governor Corzine
tapped her as his running mate Saturday at a rally in
As an assemblywoman and state senator, Weinberg rose to prominence as an outspoken government-reform advocate with a reputation for battling members of her own party to rid it of corruption. Two of her primary political rivals, former Bergen County Democratic Organization Chairman Joseph Ferriero and former BCDO counsel Dennis Oury, are under indictment and awaiting trial after being accused of using their political influence improperly….
Sen. Robert Gordon, D-Fair Lawn, who’s known Weinberg since the 1970s, said he hasn’t always agreed with her on every issue, but has respected her throughout.
“No matter how far she’s gotten in politics, she has never lost her sense of outrage about the things that have to be fixed,” he said….
47. “Blue Shield of California Expands CalPERS NetValue Service Area” (PR Newswire, July 21, 2009); newswire citing TOM MCCAFFERY (MPP 1988).
SAN FRANCISCO -- Blue Shield of California announced today that it will expand the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) NetValue(SM) service area as of January 1, 2010 to include the counties of Imperial, San Francisco, San Luis Obispo and the northern part of San Mateo. First offered in 2008, the NetValue HMO plan offers CalPERS members a lower rate HMO plan option in exchange for using a smaller network of medical groups…. In order to participate in this network, medical groups must meet basic cost efficiency criteria and must meet or exceed quality standards based on nationally-recognized quality metrics.
“Providing effective
care while controlling rising healthcare costs is absolutely critical,” said Tom McCaffery,
vice president of CalPERS Sector at Blue Shield of
... The NetValue basic plan will be the lowest priced health plan option for CalPERS Basic members who are state employees….
48. “Free Press Responds to ‘Sloppy’ Incumbent Broadband Arguments” (Targeted News Service, July 21, 2009); newswire citing DEREK TURNER (MPP 2006).
Derek Turner, research director at Free Press, issued the following statement:
“The FCC should not be duped by the incumbents’ self-serving claims. The national broadband plan must be built on a record of meaningful data and analysis -- not on flimsy evidence and discredited arguments.
“Incumbents have the largest pool of resources and broadband data at their fingertips, but their comments offer nothing more than the same old tired pro-deregulation arguments. It is clear from their recommendations that the phone and cable companies want the national broadband plan to simply be a ‘do-nothing’ plan—a strategy that has already proven to be an epic failure for consumers.
“The national broadband plan is the opportunity Americans have been waiting for. The FCC can atone for past agency mistakes and chart a path forward that brings the open and competitive broadband market that consumers were promised so long ago.”
Read Free Press’ National Broadband Strategy Reply Comments: http://www.freepress.net/files/Free_Press_BB_Plan_NOI_Reply_Comments.pdf
Read Free Press’ National Broadband Strategy Recommendations: www.freepress.net/files/FP_National_broadband_plan.pdf
49. “Political Notebook: Arambula hires analyst” (Fresno Bee, July 18, 2009); story citing TIM GAGE (MPP 1978).
-- E.J. Schultz
Newly declared
Independent Juan Arambula says he still gets invited
to Democratic caucus meetings. But the
So he’s paying his own numbers cruncher, Tim Gage, a former Department of Finance director for former Gov. Gray Davis.
“I want an independent analysis and I have the money and I have the need,” Arambula said.
Technically, Gage was hired by the California Issues Forum, a nonprofit affiliated with the Legislature’s moderate caucus, an informal group of like-minded Democrats.
50. “Wal-Mart bets on green appeal; It will rate and label environmental impact of each product it sells” (Los Angeles Times, July 17, 2009); story citing MICHAEL KOBORI (MPP 1995).
By Andrea Chang
If they green it, will we shop?
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. officially unveiled its widely rumored plan Thursday to slap “eco-ratings” on the hundreds of thousands of products in its stores. The world’s largest retailer is betting that shoppers increasingly will care how green their purchases are—and maybe even pay more for environmentally friendly merchandise….
In the first phase of its three-part initiative, the Bentonville, Ark., retail giant will ask its more than 100,000 suppliers questions about their business practices, such as the amount of water they use in producing items and the locations of their factories. The goal is to develop a green index for Wal-Mart products similar to the nutrition label found on the packaging for food products….
Experts have said the ambitious program … probably will spur suppliers to redesign products to reduce their environmental impact and improve their scores. And that could cause broad changes in manufacturing….
At Levi Strauss & Co., Michael Kobori, vice president of social and environmental sustainability, said the jeans maker has set water-quality standards for its suppliers and now recommends that its jeans be washed in cold water to save energy.
Kobori said the
“It sends the right signal to the marketplace and the right signal to the supply chain that sustainability is important,” he said. “We hope it changes the game.”
51. “Economic and Climate Experts Debunk Misleading Report on Costs of AB 32” (PR Newswire, July 13, 2009); newswire citing CHRIS BUSCH (MPP 1998/PhD ARE).
“The study by Varshney and Associates is fundamentally flawed. It takes into
account the costs associated with implementing solutions to global warming,
while completely ignoring the immense savings that also accrue from reducing
global warming pollution,” said Jasmin Ansar, a climate economist with the Union of Concerned
Scientists. “This report does a disservice to
“The report’s authors
assess estimated costs of implementing AB 32—$25 billion—but willfully ignore
AB 32’s associated savings of more than $40 billion.
52. “Planners to tour brooks” (Brattleboro Reformer (VT), July 11, 2009); story citing KARI DOLAN (MPP 1990).
--Reformer Staff
The Brattleboro Planning Commission will conduct a field visit on Monday, July 13 to locations along the Halladay and Whetstone brooks as part of its work on the Interim Flood Hazard Area regulations.
These regulations include provisions for fluvial erosion hazards. The purpose of the field visit is to observe the nature of the hazards and to better understand how the interim ordinance works.
The meeting will be led by Kari Dolan of the Agency of Natural Resources River Management Program ….
53. “CWS Extends
Protection, Services to Refugees in
On International Women’s Day, March 8, Indonesians and refugees
attended a CWS-hosted workshop focused on ending violence against women. Photo:
Andrew Fuys
Since 2008, Church World
Service has been working to ensure that the refugees enjoy access to protection
and basic social services while in
Through its two refugee
services centers in
54. “Conference Call with Representative Barney Frank (D-Ma) and Lawrence Korb, Senior Fellow at The Center for American Progress Action Fund” (Federal News Service, June 23, 2009); Q&A featuring JEFF ABRAMSON (MPP 2003).
Subject: Money Allocation To Nuclear Waste Cleanup And F-22 Fighter Planes
….OPERATOR: ... We have another question from Jeff Abramson from Arms Control Today. Sir, you may state your question.
ABRAMSON: Hi. Thanks for taking my call. Representative Frank, I’m wondering about your assessment of the administration’s efforts to rein in spending, so now we’re talking about the F-35 as sort of the replacement in ways in terms of the expenditures for the Osprey aircraft—
REP. FRANK: Oh, the
administration doesn’t go far enough for me. I would cut, make further cuts. I
do agree, however, areas where both the administration and the committees deserve
some credit which is cutting back on this wholly unnecessary missile defense. I
continue to be un-persuaded that the Iranians, even if they get that terrible
election situation cleared up plan to attack the
ABRAMSON: Just to follow up. Do you have a sense of where you’d like to see those further cuts, in particular, or how you would make that assessment?
REP. FRANK: I do. I have
a number of others, actually, Larry Korb and others
have helped draw that up. There were other areas—missile defense as I said is a
very big one. It was at the DDG that we think also—the destroyer, where I think
they are doing some excess and then, of course, you can clean up some of the
procedures. But missile defense and the destroyer were two other big ticket
items that I think could be cut back….
1. “Keeping genes out of terrorists’ hands. Gene-synthesis industry at odds over how to screen DNA orders” (Nature, August 31, 2009); story citing STEPHEN MAURER; http://www.nature.com/news/2009/090831/full/461022a.html
--Erika Check Hayden
W. Philpott/Reuters
A standards war is brewing in the gene-synthesis
industry. At stake is the way that the industry screens orders for hazardous
toxins and genes, such as pieces of deadly viruses and bacteria. Two competing
groups of companies are now proposing different sets of screening standards,
and the results could be crucial for global biosecurity.
“If you
have a company that persists with a lower standard, you can drag the industry
down to a lower level,” says lawyer Stephen
Maurer of the
For more
than a year a European consortium of companies called the International
Association of Synthetic Biology (IASB) based in
Both codes involve an automated step, in which the genes in a customer’s order are compared against those from organisms on lists such as the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s ‘select agents’ list. This step uses computer programs such as the US National Center for Biotechnology Information’s Basic Local Alignment Search Tool (BLAST), which searches for similarities between gene sequences.
But although the IASB standard specifies that a human expert will follow up on possible ‘hits’ identified in the automated screening step, the DNA2.0/Geneart code ends with the automated screening step….
Maurer says he hopes that government
officials in the
“I think if the government expressed an opinion, DNA2.0 would blink,” Maurer says. “A little bit of effort now would steer them towards the top of existing practice rather than near the bottom.”
2. “Factbox: Kennedy’s Death Raises Successor Speculation” (New York Times, August 26, 2009); newswire citing ROBERT REICH; http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2009/08/26/us/politics/politics-us-kennedy-succession.html?scp=7&sq=%22robert%20reich%22&st=cse
By REUTERS
(Reuters) - The death of Senator Edward Kennedy leaves vacant the U.S. Senate seat he held for nearly five decades and one that Democrats will be anxious to fill.
Under state law, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick may not select a successor but must call a special election between 145 and 160 days after the seat becomes vacant.
Before his death, Kennedy asked that the law be changed so an interim senator could be appointed. The ailing statesman said in a letter to Patrick, a Democrat, that the state could not afford to be without a senator for five months.
Under Kennedy’s proposal, anyone selected for the interim seat would not be allowed to run in the special election….
A recent poll showed state voters in favor of Kennedy’s suggested plan.
Possible Democratic successors include:
- Victoria Kennedy, the senator’s widow, although aides have told the media she is not interested in the position.
- Joseph Kennedy, a former member of the U.S. House of Representatives and son of the late Robert F. Kennedy. He runs an organization providing low-cost oil to the poor.
- Former Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis, who lost the 1988 presidential election.
- Former U.S. Labor Secretary Robert Reich….
3. “Green & Glover: Nick in time” (Washington Times, August 25, 2009); column citing ROBERT REICH; http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/aug/25/green-glover-nick-in-time/print/
--Stephanie Green and Elizabeth Glover
… Attention, Granny: If you’ve been looking for an excuse to visit your grandkids in the nation’s capital, former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich is happy to provide one.
We hear
that Mr. Reich, who served under
President Clinton and is a professor of
public policy at the
“I’ve just become a grandparent, and I’m worried … about the kind of world my little granddaughter is inheriting,” Mr. Reich has been quoted as saying….
4. “Quest: New Nuclear” (KQED Public Radio, August 24, 2009); program features commentary by DAN KAMMEN; Listen to the story
In
[UC Berkeley Professor Dan Kammen is interviewed on this program.]
5. “Roundtable: Is the Economy in Recovery?” (This Week with George Stephanopoulos, ABC News, August 23, 2009); features commentary by ROBERT REICH.
PAUL KRUGMAN, Nobel laureate in Economics, New York Times columnist: “We’ve got a problem with terminology because we usually say either the economy is in recession or the economy is recovering. Either you’re in hell or you’re in heaven. The trouble is we’re actually in purgatory. We’re really in a situation where almost for sure the GDP is growing. Almost for sure, the business cycle dating committee will eventually decide that the recession ended this summer. But almost surely also we’re still losing jobs. The unemployment rate is going to continue to rise. We’re in that infamous jobless recovery state.” …
ROBERT REICH, former Secretary of Labor and professor at UC Berkeley: “I agree. There’s no evidence that this economy is doing much better. The best that can be said is that we’re getting worse more slowly and that is small consolation for people who are losing their jobs. We’re still going to be in double-digit unemployment in 2010.” …
6. “Big stakes in Bernanke’s reappointment” (Marketplace [NPR], August 21, 2009); interview with ROBERT REICH; Listen to this interview
STEVE CHIOTAKIS: Ben Bernanke’s term doesn’t end til January, so why are we hearing about this debate now?
ROBERT REICH: That’s a good question. I think mainly because financial markets hate uncertainty. And the longer the president waits, the more uncertainty there’s going to be. Also, now that the economy is showing faint signs of bottoming out, more attention is going to be paid to the Fed’s exit strategy. You know, the when and how it withdraws all that credit medicine. And the president will want to get beyond the issue of Bernanke’s appointment so nobody thinks the timing of the exit is influenced by politics….
And besides everything else, decisions by the Fed next year in particular, could very well affect the mid-term elections. I mean if the Fed acts too soon raising interest rates and pulling in credit—and the economy tanks again—that’s going to be very, very tough for the Democrats. If the Fed is too late, we could face a tidal wave of inflation….
7. “At
By Daniel Terdiman
Vint Cerf, the ‘father of the Internet,’ is one of the many
thought leaders that students at
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--Sitting in a classroom, listening to students explain their approach to an assignment to develop an initiative to impact the lives of a billion people over ten years, one could be forgiven for taking it all with a grain of salt….
But here at
That’s
because
Those chosen for the program are truly the cream of the crop. After all, they have regular access to superstar teachers like George Smoot, a professor at the University of California at Berkeley and winner of the 2006 Nobel Prize in Physics; Dan Kammen, co-director of the Berkeley Institute of the Environment and a member of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change team that shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with Al Gore; Vint Cerf, Google’s chief Internet evangelist; and Stephanie Langhoff, NASA Ames’ chief scientist….
8. “Health Care: Weighing Options” (Forum, KQED public radio, August 19, 2009); features commentary of RICHARD SCHEFFLER; http://www.kqed.org/epArchive/R908190900
The health care reform debate has taken a new turn, with some putting forward health insurance cooperatives as an alternative to a public option. But President Obama insists that a public option, which would provide competition to private insurers, is still on the table. We get the latest on the health care debate.
Guests:
- Alain Enthoven,
professor emeritus of public and private management at
- Richard Scheffler, distinguished professor of health economics and public policy at UC Berkeley
9. “Talk of the Nation: Is the
Host, Rebecca ROBERTS: Let me begin with you, Robert Reich. You’re looking at all the data and figures we’ve been talking about, and to you, none of this points to a recovery. Why not?
Mr. REICH: Well, not so much a recovery, Rebecca. The good news, obviously, is that things are getting worse more slowly. That may not seem like good news, but that is good news—247,000 jobs lost last month is certainly better than the 400,000 or so we’ve been losing. But the fact of the matter is that I don’t see enough consumer demand out there to really turn things around, at least for a very long time. Because consumers, after all, not only do they have to worry about jobs—one out of seven is under-employed, they’re unemployed or under-employed in terms of the amount of work they are actually doing versus what they’d like to do—but also banks are not lending. Consumers have a huge debt load that they have to get out from under, an unusually huge debt load, including one-third of homeowners being underwater. I mean, they owe more on their homes than the homes are worth. And you have baby boomers, many who have not saved for retirement, who have got to start saving quite seriously….
Mr. REICH: But here’s the problem. I mean, this is not a typical downturn. You know, most of the recessions we remember in recent years … have been brought on by the Federal Reserve board overshooting—just slowing the economy to avoid inflation, like the great early ‘80s recession brought on by Paul Volcker’s Federal Reserve board…. But you see, at the end of that recession, there was still a lot of pent-up consumer demand.
This time, though, we’ve had a gigantic asset bubble. Housing prices are now one-third lower across the nation on average…. But basically, we can’t get back on the old track we were on, given that that old track got us into terrible trouble….
ROBERTS: Robert
Reich, he teaches public policy at the
10. “The public option’s last stand. We’ll have no one to blame but ourselves if healthcare reform doesn’t include a public option” (Salon.com, Aug. 17, 2009); commentary by ROBERT REICH; http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2009/08/17/reich/
By Robert Reich
I would have preferred a single-payer system like Medicare, but became convinced earlier this year that a public, Medicare-like optional plan was just about as much as was politically possible. Now the White House is stepping back even from the public option, with the president saying it’s “not the entirety of healthcare reform,” the White House spokesman saying the president could be “satisfied” without it, and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius saying that a public insurance plan is “not the essential element.”
Without a public, Medicare-like option, healthcare reform is a bandaid for a system in critical condition. There’s no way to push private insurers to become more efficient and provide better value to Americans without being forced to compete with a public option….
... If Obama tells Senate Democrats he will not sign a healthcare reform bill without a public option, there will be enough votes in the United States Senate for a public option.
I urge you to make it absolutely clear to everyone you know, everyone who cares about universal healthcare and what it will mean to our country, that the bill must contain a real public option….
Robert Reich, a professor of public policy
at the University of California at Berkeley, was secretary of labor during the
11. “Fewer workers, bigger paychecks in high tech” (San Francisco Chronicle, August 13, 2009); story citing ROBERT REICH; http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/08/13/BURK197MCC.DTL&type=tech
--Tom Abate, Chronicle Staff Writer
The report by the Bureau of Labor Statistics covers the period from 2001 to 2008 and looks at employment trends in 11 high-tech industries, from chips to the Internet to biotechnology….
The report documents a stunning shift in the
region’s high-tech workforce, as
“
“At the same time there is an intensifying competition for talent, because the name of the game is innovate or die,” Reich said….
12. “
TONY HARRIS, CNN Anchor: ...Raised and sometimes
rude voices at health care town halls. What’s the impact? Robert Reich is a professor at UC Berkeley
and former labor secretary. His latest book is called “Supercapitalism.” He’s in
HARRIS: ... I’ve got to ask you right off the top here, how concerned are you that some of the noise from some of these town hall events....
ROBERT REICH, FORMER U.S. SECRETARY OF LABOR: Well, Tony, I’m a little bit concerned. I mean, look, a good debate is what we need to have in this country about health care. But if there is a lot of rancor and a lot of disturbances that drown out voice, that’s not a good debate.
HARRIS: Yes. What needs to be in the final bill?...
REICH: Well, number one, you’ve got to find some way of insuring as many of the 45 million Americans who don’t have health insurance as possible. And by the way, these days, because people lose their jobs so readily, almost anybody can be without health care.
Number two, there’s got to be some way of reducing the increase over time in health care costs....
Thirdly, there has got to be some way to make sure that we get our, you know, good quality for our money....
13. “The White House deal with Big Pharma undermines democracy. Obama’s agreement with Big Pharma may help healthcare reform pass, but it may also mean higher drug prices for you” (Salon.com, Aug. 10, 2009); commentary by ROBERT REICH; http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2009/08/10/pharma/index.html?source=rss&aim=/opinion/feature
By Robert
Reich
I’m a strong supporter of universal health insurance, and a fan of the Obama administration. But I’m appalled by the deal the White House has made with the pharmaceutical industry’s lobbying arm to buy their support.
Last week, after being reported in the Los Angeles Times, the White House confirmed it has promised Big Pharma that any healthcare legislation will bar the government from using its huge purchasing power to negotiate lower drug prices. That’s basically the same deal George W. Bush struck in getting the Medicare drug benefit, and it’s proven a bonanza for the drug industry….
But I also care about democracy, and the deal between Big Pharma and the White House frankly worries me. It’s bad enough when industry lobbyists extract concessions from members of Congress, which happens all the time. But when an industry gets secret concessions out of the White House in return for a promise to lend the industry’s support to a key piece of legislation, we’re in big trouble. That’s called extortion: An industry is using its capacity to threaten or prevent legislation as a means of altering that legislation for its own benefit. And it’s doing so at the highest reaches of our government, in the office of the president….
Robert Reich, a professor of public policy
at the University of California at Berkeley, was secretary of labor during the
14. “Huge wage cost to filling gap in
sub-Saharan
By Sarah Yang, Media Relations
BERKELEY, Calif., Aug. 6 — Hiring the nearly 800,000 workers needed to eliminate the staggering shortage of health care professionals in sub-Saharan Africa by 2015 will cost $2.6 billion a year, or 2.5 times the annual funds currently allocated for health worker wages in the region, according to a new study by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, and collaborators from the World Health Organization (WHO) and The World Bank.
“To say that generating the funds needed to
alleviate the shortage will be difficult is a gross understatement,” said lead
author Richard Scheffler,
professor of health economics and public policy at UC Berkeley’s
“We project that sub-Saharan
15. “Live: eSolar Flips the Switch on
By Katie Fehrenbacher
… eSolar, a solar developer that uses modular designs, small mirrors and computing power to lower the cost of solar thermal technology, has turned on what it says is the first solar thermal power tower plant in the U.S: the 5 MW “Sierra SunTower,” which uses 24,000 mirrors, and is located in Lancaster, in Southern California. The solar thermal plant, which uses mirrors that track the sun’s rays in order to concentrate it onto two receivers that sit atop two 160 foot towers, will provide solar power to utility Southern California Edison (SCE)....
Dan Kammen, from the Energy and Resources Group at UC Berkeley:
This is ground zero for the world of clean energy
that we need to master and make profitable. Facilities like this are so vital
because it harnesses innovative capacity. We lead in innovation, but not
deployment in this area. We have innovated but not commercialized. eSolar is an example of bucking
that deployment trend.
eSolar
highlights our ability to change that in a hurry. Four years ago, almost all
analysts would point to
16. “Republicans will not defeat healthcare reform. Conservative groups are trying to Astroturf their way to a defeat of healthcare reform” (Salon.com, Aug. 5, 2009); commentary by ROBERT REICH; http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2009/08/05/reich/
By Robert Reich
On our drive across
This isn’t grass roots. It’s Astroturf. The vans
carry the logo “Americans for Prosperity,” one of the
… Yet the Republicans’ fake grass-roots campaign may cause some Democratic lawmakers to become even more nervous about universal healthcare than they already are, or at least give them an excuse to duck when it comes time to vote in September. The result will be a watered-down set of reforms that still leave millions of Americans uninsured and don’t slow healthcare costs. This is why Obama has to fight for this so hard over the August recess, why he has to be far more specific about what he wants in the bill, and why he can’t afford any more diversions—like the beer summit, or economic advisors who seem to open the door to middle-class tax increases.
Robert Reich, a professor of public policy
at the University of California at Berkeley, was secretary of labor during the
17. “Dollars for scholars” (San Francisco Chronicle, August 5, 2009); op-ed by DAVID KIRP; http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/08/05/EDP0193OR4.DTL#ixzz0NKHMRCQu
--David L. Kirp
When Don Griffin, the chancellor of
I’ve got a message for all those snob sisters—get
over yourselves. With
Buying naming rights is nothing new in academe.
Harvard started the trend back in 1639 when it named itself for John Harvard, a
clergyman who left 779 pounds (worth about $142,000 today) and 400 books to a
school called
How do you think the
… Because of cuts in state support, the community college faces a $20 million budget gap. To save $5 million, it has been forced to cancel nearly 8 percent of its courses. Pony up $6,000, about what a part-time instructor gets paid, and you can keep a class going….
David L. Kirp is a professor at UC Berkeley’s Goldman School of Public Policy and the author of “Shakespeare, Einstein, and the Bottom Line: The Marketing of Higher Education.”
18. “Report:
By Samantha Young Associated Press Writer
It encourages local communities to rethink future development in low-lying coastal areas, reinforce levees that protect flood-prone areas and conserve already strapped water supplies….
Over the last century in California, the sea level has risen by 7 inches, average temperatures have increased, spring snowmelt occurs earlier in the year, and there are hotter days and fewer cold nights….
Michael Hanemann, a professor in the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics at the University of California, Berkeley [and director of the California Climate Center], said government and universities have a role to play by informing the public about climate change, but cities and counties will have to do the hard work.
For example, cities are in charge of many of land-use
decisions that determine future development.
“The Department of Health can put out guidelines, but you and I control our eating patterns,” he said.
[This story also appeared in the <a href=“http://www.contracostatimes.com/california/ci_12981655”>Contra Costa Times</a> and <a href=“http://www.sacbee.com/state_wire/story/2077419.html”>Sacramento Bee</a>]
19. “Sustainable Futures: All-electric cars: driving costs down” (Environmental Research Web, August 3, 2009); story citing DAN KAMMEN; http://environmentalresearchweb.org/cws/article/futures/40007
--Kate Ravilious
Drive to work and plug in your car to re-charge. Will this be
the norm in the future? According to
Following on from a study that compared gasoline-fuelled
vehicles with plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs),
Derek Lemoine and Daniel Kammen, from the
Currently batteries are estimated to cost anything between $1000/kWh and $200/kWh. However, the cost of batteries is likely to fall with greater production and fuel prices may rise as oil becomes scarcer, meaning that EVs are likely to become closer to break-even as time passes.
Meanwhile, a form of carbon taxing is likely to make EVs even more financially attractive. “A price on carbon, of course, tilts the equation more towards a pure EV than a PHEV, and both look superior to even high-mileage gasoline cars,” said Kammen.
What’s more, there are ways to make EVs more economically attractive to consumers. Better Place is considering signing up vehicle owners to pricing plans. If these plans include tiered rates and keep battery ownership with the company, Lemoine and Kammen argue that EVs could make financial sense for large numbers of people.
Changing our infrastructure to support electric vehicles is a big challenge, but from an environmental point of view the advantages of adopting EVs soon outweigh the difficulties. “Electrified transportation may be crucial to the transition to a low-carbon future because it becomes cleaner as the grid becomes cleaner. Introducing EVs soon can begin the slow process of adopting the vehicles that could enable achievement of long-term greenhouse gas targets,” write Lemoine and Kammen.
20. “Give BB&T Liberty, but Not a Bailout” (New York Times, August 2, 2009); story citing ROBERT REICH; http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/02/business/02bbt.html?pagewanted=2
By Andrew Martin
John A. Allison IV, chairman of the banking company BB&T, is a devoted follower of Ayn Rand’s antigovernment views. (Jodi Hilton for The New York Times)
OVER much of the last four decades, John A. Allison IV built
BB&T from a local bank in
But Mr. Allison, who remains BB&T’s
chairman after retiring as chief executive in December, has emerged as perhaps
the most vocal proponent of [Ayn]
Others contend that a lack of constraints on self-interested and greedy business people set the financial crisis in motion — a view that tends to undermine Ms. Rand’s theories on the value and social benefits of unfettered ambition and limited government.
“It takes a great leap of ideological blindness to look at
the past few years and think that the main problem was too much government
involvement,” said Robert B. Reich, a
public policy professor at the
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